Weekend Design Special!

WEEKEND SPECIAL! (June 1-2) 

Running a weekend-only cover art deal! $30 gets you an ebook cover! $45 gets you a full wrap!! http://www.ashsartanddesign.com

BOOK TRAILER SPECIAL! $45! This weekend only! 

Scion’s Avalon Book Trailer

Three years have passed since vampire princess Cassy Daniels, Scion of the House of Dracul, gave up her title to turn and marry David Ashe. Together, they live in exile with the Council of Crones, a group of elder witches. Isolated from the world, they found bliss. However, vampire politics soon intrude. Born vampire women are being kidnapped, and Cassy’s next on the list.

After a failed attempt to take Cassy from the Council of Crones estate, magical portals lead back to the missing women. Cassy and David are tasked with bringing them home. David is sent after Elisabeta, Cassy’s sister-in-law, who is still on Earth. Cassy, however, has what it takes to enter the elf-kingdom of Avalon and retrieve the other three vampires.

Can Cassy and David hold on to their bliss, or will Avalon’s magic lure her from home?

(need a book trailer? Check out http://www.ashsartanddesign.com for awesome rates!)

Melinda Dozier stopped by today….

 

Time Changes Everything
by Melinda Dozier

Blurb

Amanda Larson is dedicated to her job and doesn’t want to make time for anything else. Until she runs into Jake Edwards. He used to be the cute boy next door; now he’s a sexy, big shot lawyer.

Jake Edwards isn’t interested in commitment. He’s successful, sexy, and single–and that’s how he likes it. When he reconnects with Amanda, Jake realizes he might have to rethink his philosophy on the carefree, bachelor lifestyle.

But, is it too late for them? Or can he convince her that he’s ready to give her his heart?

Time Changes Everything will be available May 13 through Entranced Publishing.

Purchase links:
http://www.entrancedpublishing.com/imprints-5/entranced/time-changes-everything/

Book Trailer:

Author Bio 

Reading romance has always been at the top of Melinda’s favorite past times. After hectic days of teaching English to middle school students, Melinda finds time to write and read in the evenings. She lives in Guatemala, Central America with her husband, three boys and German Sheppard. She enjoys being the queen of her household and dreams of being pampered fully by her boys once they are grown. Melinda loves reality TV., traveling, blogging and playing Words With Friends.

Website: www.melindadozier.com
Blog:
http://melindadozier.blogspot.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/melindadozier

Blog Tour Giveaway

Melinda will be giving away a $25 Amazon gift certificate and an ecopy of Time Changes Everything. Use the rafflecopter below:

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Or Link:

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/share-code/YjEwM2Q1NDg0MGQ5NmU1MGMwMzFkM2RkNGVkODY0OjI1/

Five Outrageous Facts about a Romance Writer – Melinda Dozer

1. I once drove across the entire state of Texas only wearing a pink bikini. Sounds fun, doesn’t it? Not in over 100 degree weather. My uncle had just given me a hand-me-down vehicle for college. On the drive from my home state of Louisiana to New Mexico, where I went to college, the air condition blew out. I wasn’t about to burn up in that hellhole of a car. So, I popped out my bikini and drove as if I was Thelma and Louise.
2. 2.    My nickname in college was “Frenchie.” Nope, it’s not what you think! I actually studied French for four years of College, and dreamed of moving to Paris and marrying a baker. Little did I know, fate had other plans. Still, the name stuck with me.
3. I had private Sex-Ed lessons. When I had mononucleosis in high school, I had a private tutor at home and it happened to be an older man. He had to teach me the curriculum from Health class: Sex Ed. Talk about awkward!
4. 4.    I thought my hubby was a perv. I met hubby in college in History 101 class. When he asked if I wanted to study for the first time, he told me we should study at his apartment. I totally thought he would take advantage of me, so I talked him into the library instead. Almost 20 years later, I know better now. He’s a true gentleman.
5. 5.    The Bachelor/The Bachelorette is usually the highlight of my week. Monday nights are planned around this reality TV show series. I know how ridiculous it is and how unrealistic the romance can be, but it’s still an obsession. It’s a regular past time in our household.

I love talking to readers! You can find me at:

Twitter: www.twitter.com/melindadozier

Facebook: www.facebook.com/melindadoz

My blog:
http://melindadozier.blogspot.com

Add Time Changes Everything to your Goodreads shelf!

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15990302-time-changes-everything

Now it’s your turn to share. Tell me an outrageous fact about yourself! Leave a comment below!

Zombie Revelations by Dene Bebbington

Zombie Revelations

Dene Bebbington

Self-published

Horror/zombie

Rating: C (I forget what rating scale I use, so we’re going with letter grades…)

Somewhere in the UK, zombies swarm a church where a wedding is about to take place. They realize that no one is safe, no one exempt, from the undead.

Zombie Revelations doesn’t really bring anything new to the zombie genre. It’s short, full of the usual characters–weepy, screaming women, scared old men who love their infected wives anyway, the hero male, and the briefly mentioned psychotic religious leader.

It’s well-written, for the most part. There are some POV issues–the biggest being that the story is told in a slightly-overwritten, flowery omniscient voice that doesn’t really allow the reader to get to know the characters–a handicap that sort of cuts this story off at the knees, in this overglutted zombie-genre market. Then there are the sporadic info-dumps that pop-up like footnotes, answering questions the characters asked, like monotone scientists in a grade school educational filmstrip. There was this weird thing in the stories, too. The zombies “squawked.” I kept getting this mental image of zombies walking around squawking like parrots, accompanied by arm-flapping. Zombies shouldn’t squawk. It’s great to bring something new to the zombie genre, but it sort of has to make sense. Granted, that’s my own opinion, but I dare anybody to read the story, and not picture zombies walking around the UK making noises like parrots.

Because this story is told in such a distant, omniscient voice, the reader isn’t really allowed to discover the story on their own. Everything is told to the reader–instead of the horrific discovery by a character that another is bitten, we’re told he’s been bitten, and that’s it. There is a lot of ‘telling,’ rather than showing, and that limits the story somewhat. Or a lot…

I liked the characters. I wish the author had invested more in them and taken more time to let us get to know them. It’s the characters that make a zombie story stand out.

Overal, this is a decent story. If you’re looking for a more emotional connection with characters, or a plot with a goal, this probably isn’t the story for you. It’s more of a vignette, I suppose. Well-written for the most part, technically clean, and while I personally think it could be tightened up a little, I’m sure less-critical readers may enjoy it.

Fan-girl-squee-ing over Julie Kagawa’s Iron Fey series

I don’t do too many of these posts. I read SO much, it’s almost impossible to keep up with everything I read. I have books stacked chest high in the hallways, on tables, overflowing multiple bookcases, on any flat surface available. My poor Kindle app on my phone contains THOUSANDS of books.

Every once in a while, a book catches my eyes. Actually, an ad on Facebook (who knew people actually paid attention to those sidebar ads?) caught my eye. It was for a indiegogo thing, this one, actually…

I know I’m a little late to this party–the series has been out for a while (since 2010). Since I love anything fairy/faery related, and I love good YA fiction, I grabbed the series off Amazon and started reading. Managed to read the first 3 full books last night, obsessively. Couldn’t put them down. LOVED them. Loved the characters. Doesn’t happen in YA too often, for me, personally. I hate getting chest-deep into a good YA series, and suddenly, the heroine goes duuurrrrrrhhh and starts making stupid, stupid decisions, all based on luuuuuuuv.  (I can’t get the underline to go away, sorry).

Kagawa’s characters are unique because they are smart. They make GOOD choices. Meghan doesn’t fall apart when her man walks away. She doesn’t sit in a chair and wait for somebody to rescue her. She goes after her man. I also love, love, love that these books don’t contain a love triangle, with some smitten girl moaning and griping over who she loves more. There are a few chapters where Meghan has to make a choice, but it’s not really even a choice, because she knows who she loves, and who she sees as a friend.

I just can’t reiterate how much I loved that the characters were intelligent. Like, real-life intelligent. You don’t see that much in YA fiction. The relationships between characters were amazing. I loved the variety of characters and the way faery mythology is woven into the story without becoming info-dumps.

The books are full of action and adventure, romance that feels like so much more than ordinary teenage crushes. The story itself is epic and sweeping. With a lot of series the spread over several books, usually by the third or so, there’s really nowhere else the story can go without reading like a Mary-Sue-ed fanfiction of itself. Thankfully, we don’t have that issue with the Iron Fey series. Every book has a new adventure, and it makes sense in the world Kagawa has woven. There is no reprieve from the overall threat, and all the minor ones add in to create an unrelenting tension throughout the series that just pushes the reader on and on. At least it did with me. I read the first three books in a matter of hours! I’m halfway through Iron Knight and loving it as well (note: just finished it. Cried through the whole damn book!) This series is more than just 3 books about a dumb teen chick and her love-triangle boyfriends set in a generic fantasy world; it’s got a life of it’s own. I totally just love how the characters grow up in the books–they start out at teenagers (sort of, if you can count immortal fey as teens…) and evolve. We follow Meghan through her journey from pig-farmer to queen and beyond. It’s got everything a fairy-tale lover would want. There’s no anticlimactic “and they lived happily ever after, the end” moment.

I found only ONE thing that I didn’t like all that much. At the end of book 3, there’s a brief epilogue that switches from Meghan’s POV to Ash’s. It felt a little awkward to me. it didn’t exactly lead into book 4, even though book 4 is in Ash’s POV.

So this is definitely a series you should check out. I can’t say enough about it. It’s beautiful, fantastic, amazing, and wonderfully written.

Ms. Kagawa, if you need any more additions to your army of bloggers, count me in! ritesofromance (at) gmail . com!

Appetites by Lucy O

Title: Appetites

Author: Lucy O

Publisher: The Big O

ISBN:

Release Date: March 2013

Format: Ebook

Genre: Contemporary erotica

Length: Novella

Rating:  4 Lyres

Reviewer: GJM

Suzanna is a cooking show host who skates very close to the edge with her sexual innuendos while cooking on the live show. When her boyfriend dumps her on live TV she has a mini meltdown and ends up fired. Her boss makes her an offer that she can’t refuse he wants her to work at her new restaurant the job is hers if she can pass his test.

OMG is all I can say I laughed so hard I cried in places. This is a really quick little read filled with innuendos and some great ideas for cooking with chocolate. There are even a few recipes included at the end of the book. Making risotto will never be boring again if you make it according to Suzanna’s instructions.

If you’re looking for a quick fun read grab a copy of appetites you’ll not be disappointed Ms O will keep you laughing from start to finish.

The Damaged Heart by Rosemary J. Anderson

Title: The Damaged Heart

Author: Rosemary J Anderson

Publisher: Siren Publishing

ISBN: 978-1-62242-343-9

Release Date: February 2013

Format: Ebook

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Length: Novel

Rating: 5 Lyres recommended read

Reviewer: GJM

Unsolicited Review

Abigail Bountiful is shy and naïve and has managed to get to the age of twenty one without losing her virginity. Life has not been kind to Abigail but she’s managed to survive up till now, however life has handed her yet another blow and she is about to become homeless. In desperation she decides to reply to an advertisement.

“A virgin wife wanted!

A homemaker, must be free of ties and aged twenty to thirty.

Should be prepared to live in a remote part of the world.

Ring for an interview.”

Gabriel Strong has been hurt in the past and doesn’t trust women, but he wants a family, so he places an advert in the paper. He has also had a contract drafted so that if he finds a suitable candidate, he will be protected if the marriage fails.

Abigail bungles her way through the interview.  Her nerves have her spilling coffee and dumping the contents of her purse all over the floor. When asked what she’d bring to the marriage, she told Gabriel she kept a clean house, was a great cook, and that she knew she’d be good in bed–as she’d read books. She passes the medical test Gabriel has requested so they are married and he whisks her off to Alaska.

Gabriel is a biologist who is currently studying the mating habits of the grizzly. He is also a keen wildlife photographer. The first few days the pair are in Alaska go reasonably well. Gabe learns that his wife can’t cook to save herself, though she does try very hard. When Gabe’s fellow researchers arrive, things change between Gabe and Abby. One of the researchers just happens to be Gabe’s ex, Marianne St Clair. The other is the former best friend that she ran off with, Francis Walker.

Abigail is almost killed by a bear when someone leaves leftovers outside. Then a series of other mishaps befall both Gabe and Abby–the most heartbreaking, the loss of their child. Abby believes Gabe is having an affair and only wanted her for the baby. Gabe on the other hand doesn’t believe Abby loves him and is prepared to let her go until an enraged Mamma grizzly comes on the scene looking for her cub, and standing between Mamma and baby is–you guessed it–Abigail.

This is probably one of the best contemporary novels I have read so far this year. I laughed, I cried, and I wanted to slap both Gabriel and Abigail at times. Ms Anderson had me hooked by the end of chapter one and I stayed that way till the last page. The chemistry between Abby and Gabe is hot, the action is fast paced with a few twists, just to make it really interesting. I’m hoping that one of the secondary characters, Gabe’s friend Zach, gets his own book soon, and that we get to revisit with Gabe and Abby.